Author Archives: Achariya

A philosophical walk in a crowded park

Tempura (1)

Today I was hunting a particular season and went to the sim of Tempura to find it. Little did I know that this sim actually has PEOPLE in it — people who are there to MEET OTHER PEOPLE and TALK and stuff! It was shocking.

The sim itself is very pretty. It has a beautiful covered bridge with two levels, spanning various bits of Autumnal wilderness. There are places to sit and chat, and…did I mention the insane numbers of OTHER AVATARS? You will probably sense by now that I never, ever get out. I really don’t. So while I was standing around, someone messaged me a pleasant hello.

“OMG –” I messaged a friend. “What do I do when someone I don’t know says hi to me?!”

“You say hello back, idiot,” the friend said, so I did, and fell into a very pleasant conversation with a decent, interesting lady.

This lady made a fabulous point during our conversation. “People blog about skins, but if they don’t blog their shape, then how will people know how to get that exact look?” she said.

Fair enough! Some excellent bloggers actually do blog about their shapes as well as skins, and that’s the best way to get a particular look. But as for me, I can’t even remember where I bought my first shape, and along the way it’s been modded so that it’s completely different anyway. Much like real life, it feels like an organic aging process for my avatar… but it’s kind of impossible to track.

Anyway. What do you guys think? Should people blog more about their shapes if they’re talking about a particular skin?

Tempura (2)

Outfit: fashionably Dead floral frock with tie – cream
Eyes: Curious Kitties sparkle penguine eyes
Skin: Pink Fuel Harley (opaline)
Hair: Magika Rewind in pastel
Hands: Slink mesh hands in relax
Camera: Tee*fy toy cam-Mera bag in lavender
Horns: Schadenfreude Kinder Horns
Bracelet: Miel ahi bracelet

Red, the blood of tired women

stuff_002

I had chemotherapy from 9 – 2. It’s absolutely time for my avatar to take off her tiny heels and frock and head straight to bed. The comfy slip is by fashionably Dead for Collabor88, of course, and my avatar tells me it totally feels like BUTTAH.

Shoes: Lassitude & Ennui boudoir mules in red
Skin: Pink Fuel Harley in Caramel with lid 1
Hair: Lamb Black Magic in left-brained
Outfit: fashionably Dead roaring night clothes in red
Eyes: NP Lunar eyes in gold

A gentle countryside full of unexpectedly sentient rodents

Isle of Myrth (5)

I was always enchanted by the strangely magical realist tales of Beatrix Potter, but my daughter had no time for them. “Can you read me this thing about Tinker Bell and these other fairies and their talents instead?” Oy vey, this is what parenting in Orlando is like.  But I was overjoyed to find this lovely sim in the Destination Guide. In the words of the people who own the Noble Storybook sim (Isle of Myrth):

This island was born out of a love and passion for those who tell stories and tales. [Some] of the most known tales of several generations are the Tale of Peter Rabbit and many more, written by Beatrix Potter. Not only was she a a marvelous storyteller and artist, but [she was] also a woman who was more progressive then many of her time.

. . . We tried to create the atmosphere of where she lived, where she wrote, where she created and where many of her tales were situated. You will find her small cottage on the island, the lake, the forest where Peter Rabbit and his siblings adventures took place, and many more figures from Beatrix’s stories.

It’s truly lovely there. Here is the SLURL to the sim! A few more pictures (including one of the lovely Weather or Not? spiral umbrella from Genre) are behind the cut.

Isle of Myrth (4)

Continue reading

Third grade, here we come…

Toast's jacket <3

This is the fashionably Dead jacket from Collabor88, and I’m wearing it because my avatar’s summer is over, and it’s back to school for my kiddo. I’m honestly happy, never been so glad to see this long hot summer end. Yes, I’m not looking forward to sitting around helping my kid do homework (seriously! Homework in 3rd grade! What is the world coming to…), but a tiny bit more structure is probably good for us all. Tomorrow begins the grind… Best of luck to all of you with kids returning to school.

Hair: Calico Ingmann Creations Arisa in pastel
Eyes: NP lunar eyes in lettuce
Ear: Schadenfreude Mer-elf Ear
Leggings: +mocha+ lace leggings in green
Coat: fashionably Dead tweed box coat in old rose
Tattoo: Wicked Explore tattoo
Skin: Pink Fuel Harley in Opaline
Horns: Lassitude & Ennui Capricornus mesh horns in light/aqua

Exploring the Realm of Terra, Novus City

Novus (4)

I’ve never roleplayed in Second Life, which is ridiculous. There are so many fabulous places to go and do it, and so many dedicated and creative groups, that it’s shockingly remiss of me. This one is the Realm of Terra, Novus City. I went because it shows up in the destination guide, and was immediately lured by the interesting mix of stuff going on in the prettily-built city. It seems to have a bit of everything. According to the website

This is a supernatural sim based in a modern / steampunk theme that takes place in the aftermath of an apocalyptic world brought on by the wars of humanity and its supernatural races. In this world, the city of Novus is just starting to spring back from a great depression…

You can roleplay lots of different types of creatures, and it’s kind of fascinating to me to think of Fae from Celtic mythos coexisting with werewolves and vampires. According to the website, the city needs more humans. (For what, fresh meat?) Check it out at the destination guide here. More photos and credits behind the cut.

Novus (1)

Novus (6)

 

Continue reading

The Flower and Willow World

Miyagawacho Hanamachi is gorgeous

Last night I realized that it was O-Bon time (around the end of summer), and I got nostalgic for the festivals of my childhood. O-Bon is the Japanese version of Dia De Los Muertos, the time of year when the spirits of dead family return to visit. Much like Dia De Los Muertos, it’s usually marked by dancing, wearing traditional Japanese clothing, eating good food, and honoring family both alive and dead. Humans around the world are not so different, are they?

I saw on the Destination Guide that the Hanafusa Okiya (Hanafusa school of Geiko) was holding an O-Bon. I wandered over to Miyagawacho Hanamachi, but was too late to view any of the festivities (everyone is on Japanese time!). The sim is gorgeous, though, so I stayed to walk in the raked sand garden and tread the narrow streets in my geta.

The sim is built for traditional Japanese Geiko roleplay. I read through the rules, and it’s much more like Memoirs of a Geisha than like (insert the usual Second Life “Geisha” house here). If you’d like to work on the sim in a variety of capacities, there’s a list of open positions on this website. I’ve always wanted to be a monk at a Shinto Shrine. Hmmmmmm…

Anyway. More photos of the lovely Miyagawacho Hanamachi behind the cut!

Have you ever done the Bon Dance?

Continue reading

Before the night is through…

Haunted (1)

I did a bit of urban exploration last night. I went to Hackberry Hall, a build listed in the “Haunted” section of the destination guide. Teleporting landed me in an enclosed Victorian-looking room with no discernable exits. I was too twitchy to solve any puzzles, so I panned out and poked around the sim until I found something to sit on… The other part of the sim is a gorgeously dank manor house that suited my Southern Gothic soul to the core.

I loved the little touches like the moon stationed firmly to the side of one of the gables, the barren trees, the little flying things… I didn’t get a chance to explore the house yet, but perhaps tomorrow. It definitely helped sooth my longings for October. Not long now, favorite month. Not long now.

I’ve posted a lot of photos after the cut!

A haunting we will go...

Continue reading

A tourist in Syrinx

Syrinx (3)

I went wandering again last night. While my husband read to my newly-returned kid, I went poking around Roleplay sims. A few of them in the destination guide lead to busted links (including one to some Bloodlines sims, I guess they’re momentarily down?). But one of them led to Syrinx, “a rustic Viking sim dedicated to providing an authentic Viking Village experience.”

Some people live here, which is neat, although it was empty when I went last night. Maybe they were all out picking up some rustic Viking outfits from the 1920s at Collabor88? I quite enjoyed finding the little nooks and crannies built into the sim. I like the phallic standing stones inscribed with runes, and the serious-looking deer lingering around the monuments. I liked the totally anachronistic pirate ship and cave on one side of the sim (I dunno, it’s SL), and I also adored the tiny rocky islands thick with evergreens.

My other favorite part was the blacksmith area, which also had a bear hyde tanning neatly beneath a few hungry-looking birds.

Go check out Syrinx! My avatar (with camera ready) is below in her new Katat0nik jumper, and a few more pictures of the sim are behind the cut.

Tourist in Syrnix

Continue reading

Golden earrings and purple skin

Fantasy Gatcha Fair outfit

O hello! This is a quick post because I’m about to go fetch my lovely daughter from the airport, where she’s been with her grandpa all week. You’d think it would be relaxing, and it was, except for the deep existential angst I felt because I had no externally-imposed raison d’etre. Kind of like a harbinger of empty nest syndrome, but I hope to god that by then I’ll have my life neatly planned out for me. Travel, travel, hmmmm…yes, I think I’ll travel s’more.

I’m wearing more things that I got from the Fantasy Gatcha Fair. Who needs Collabor88 damnit?! OK fine, I love Collabor88, but the sim sure is popular on opening day… And then I’m struck by the irony of having 100k items in my inventory and NEEDING to shop. Oy. I hope your weekends are lovely!

Makeup: OAL B&O Owl Face Henna (Fantasy Gatcha Fair)
Shorts: Aphorism hotpants in rust (Fantasy Gatcha Fair)
Arm and hand guards: CD season of the witch (Fantasy Gatcha Fair)
Earrings: Hate Me and Eat Me Flippa earrings in gold and violet
Choker: BP MoonSpell choker (Fantasy Gatcha Fair)
Hair: Wasabi Pills Tanya mesh hair in crystal violet
Skin and ears: Plastik Elven Skin – Ylara – Astrali skin basic
Eyes: Plastik Frozen Soul Lotus eyes
Shirt: Plastik Ariella top / pious

In the words of a Furby, Me Sleepeh

More Oubliette (2)

I made a mistake in my last post — I said my photos were of the sim Oubliette when actually they’re of the sister sim Ode, slightly up the hill and over the dells. Oops! To make up for it, I visited Oubliette properly today, and despite Saiyge’s big sign that says “O hai I’m tearing up the sim again,” it was still lovely, of course. Maybe especially so when it’s fraying around the edges, because rebuilding captures forgotten decay so well.

By the way! Miss Hybie of It’s Only Fashion actually runs a lovely travel blog called Avatars in Motion. If you like landscapes and poking curiously around the grid, go check out hers. It’s inspirational, truly!

Oh right, fashion. I’m also wearing a lovely new skin from Plastik, as well as ears to match and horns and face jewelry. I always love Aikea’s skins, and the colors of these are great (those violet tones especially, although I’m not wearing it today).

More Oubliette (1)

More Oubliette (3)

Necklace: Lassitude & Ennui Lion’s paw torque in silver
Hair: LaViere Aurora in sky
Skin: Plastik Elven Moon Elf with Animalistic ears and Vaele Coll / Glass eyes
Horns: Plastik Camael Horns in Teal with circlet and lip ring
Tattoos: ~silentsparrow~ belladonna:lepidoptera in robin’s egg